29-vehicle crash closes I-79 for 3 hours

Five people were hurt following a 26-car chain-reaction crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 79 between the McKean and Edinboro exits in Franklin Township beginning at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 27. None of the injuries were serious and authorities had the road open by about 12 p.m. According to witnesses, the accident was caused by heavy snow squalls that limited visibility. CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

High winds and swirling snow that slashed visibility to nearly zero left the southbound lanes of Interstate 79 littered with wrecked cars and trucks Thursday morning.

That series of crashes, which began at about 9:15 a.m. and involved 26 cars and three tractor-trailers, prompted Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Department of transportation to close Interstate 79 between the McKean and Edinboro exits until about 12:15 p.m.

There were no reports, however, of any serious injuries. Five people were treated at UPMC Hamot, but none of them was admitted.

The absence of serious injuries can likely be attributed to the blinding snow squalls that brought traffic to a crawl.

Kevin MacMicken, 52, of Ontario, had begun the long drive to Florida when the storm kicked up, pulling a heavy white curtain into his line of sight.

"Someone rear-ended me and spun me around sideways and nailed me in the driver's door again," he said.

While MacMicken's car was heavily damaged, he wasn't hurt.

In the moments afterward, MacMicken said drivers were getting out of their cars and checking on the well-being of other motorists.

Carrie Miller, 25, of McKean, who was on her way to work at Camboro Veterinary Hospital in Washington Township, was OK. But her car wasn't. Her Mercury Mariner was flipped onto its roof after being struck by a tractor-trailer.

"I saw the semi, got under my seat, I flipped and then crawled out," said Miller, visibly shaken.

Greg Pavlov, 65, who was driving to Pittsburgh from Buffalo, was able to stop his Toyota SUV without hitting anyone else.

It didn't matter. The chain-reaction accident found him.

"We didn't hit anybody," he said. "It was after we stopped."

State Police Cpl. Michael Strychalski said there was no indication that high speeds or careless driving were a factor in the series of crashes, which took place near mile marker 168 in Franklin Township, near Edinboro.

"I think it was the weather conditions," he said. "It had just turned pretty poor. And I think that is what has led to the crashes."

Bad weather hasn't been an isolated problem in a winter that now ranks -- with 120.6 inches of snowfall -- as the ninth snowiest in Erie history.

In recent years, comparatively mild winters have limited the number of chain-reaction crashes on local highways, Strychalski said.

"We have been fortunate the last few years," he said. "We haven't had one (a crash) like this in quite a while."

A combination of heavy winds and snow squalls wiped away that record Thursday morning.

PennDOT spokesman Jim Carroll said Interstate 80 near Sharon was also closed Thursday due to a chain-reaction crash.

JIM MARTIN can be reached at 870-1668 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmartin.